LLANDILO, Westmoreland –While the lack of finances prevented them from going after the players who they think could make a difference to their season, promoted Reno FC think they can finish in the top half of the competition come next May.

Reno FC, one of the most revered names in Jamaican club football, returned to the top club competition in the country after a two-year absence. They won the Western Confederation Super League, then were runners-up to Barbican FC in the all-island play-offs to take the second promotion spot.

Fitzroy Cooper, a senior executive with the club, says despite the lack of funding to prepare as well as they wanted to and the late hiring of coach Patrick Graham, “we will be competitive”.

Cooper complained that the Premier League was “overvalued” in that players’ transfer fees and salaries were too high.

“We could not even approach some clubs and some players as we know we could not afford even the transfer fee, not to mention what they wanted as salaries,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Cooper reasoned that the Premier League Clubs Association should look at extending help to the clubs in the pre-season, which is where they really need the help to get through preparations.

Reno FC, he said, will be a young team, but they will have Premier League experience within their ranks. The core of the team, Cooper explained, is made up of members of the team that won the Western Confederation Super League last season.

Goalkeeper Richard Trench and midfielder Melvin Blair — both former National Under-17 players — all left the team to further their studies.

But Reno did not sit back, but went on the hunt within their limitations to find talent to bolster the squad. The Westmoreland-based club has gone for Codayne Smikle, Ramone Lewis, Hushayne Hines, Kaycie Bromfield, Aldane Grant and Ricardo Vassell.

Reno FC will hope former national Under-23 striker Craig Foster can transfer his form from last year into the Premier League, as he ended the season on a high, scoring five times in the return-leg final against Granville FC.

Junior Neal, Romario Downswell and Denmark Gillings, who know their way around the opposition’s penalty area, are expected to provide the offensive thrust. At the other end, Dennis Taylor and Chad Blair will contend for the starting goalkeeper position.

While veteran coach Wendell Downswell is an almost permanent fixture on the bench, Graham — a former Reno midfielder of some note and who just returned from Germany where he had an extended stint in a coaching school — will be calling the shots from the sidelines.

He takes over from two former Reno FC players — Michael Graham and Godfrey Drummond — who got Reno safely through the qualifying competition.